OCU Students Raising Money To Help Nursing Student Pay Tuition

An Oklahoma City University nursing student recently found out his dreams may be cut short due to financial issues, but other students are stepping in.

Jerry Uwaezuoke has the hands and the heart of a healer. He spent much of his life in hospitals, and that’s where his passion and compassion grew. 

“I have four other siblings and they all have sickle cell. They’ve dealt with different issues so we were in and out of hospitals a lot and so from a very young age, just nurses, doctors, all of them have made a huge impression in my life and I’ve always had a passion to take care of other people,” Uwaezuoke said.

So Uwaezuoke is fact-tracked to graduate from Oklahoma City University's School of Nursing next year. That is until he found out $15,000 in tuition aid he had expected didn’t come through. 

“I literally had my mind made up that it wasn’t going to work out this semester. Try again. Focus on next semester,” he said.

Other students weren’t about to let that happen. They set up a GoFundMe account. In just one day, through social media and some good old fashioned begging, they raised $6,000. 

“And so we started talking about it and we were like we gotta do something. So we ended up starting a GoFundMe page and it exceeded my expectations,” said nursing student Alexandra Marks.

“His faculty have nominated him for several things already. He doesn’t know about many of them. And his peers have just reached out and really advocated to keep Jerry here as part of this family,” undergraduate chair of the Kramer School of Nursing Crystal Westmoreland said.

Uwaezuoke said he’s humbled. 

“All I can say is blessings. Like it literally is the miracle that I’ve been praying for. I can’t attribute it to anything else. They’re angels. I keep telling them that. They’re all a blessing,” he said.

Click here to view the GoFundMe account to help Uwaezuoke.